Elf Struck
by LotornoMiko
Summary: Rufus inadvertently charms Alicia with his voice, having to deal with the consequences of an amorous princess. Can he trust himself to behave long enough to break the spell? And should he take seriously Alicia's love confession.


There was just something about his voice, Rufus knew that much at least. It drove all the girls wild, but it was especially effective on princesses. He supposed it was his accent, it made him sound mysterious, exotic. Women flocked around him, begging him to speak, desperate to hear their names on his lips. He never understood this need of theirs, bemusedly repeating the names that they told him, watching as they sighed and giggled, faces looking flush as they batted their eyelashes at him.

Rufus certainly didn't mean to abuse this power of his, he never intended for things to go as far as they did. It just sort of happened. One minute he had been talking to Alicia, telling the princess they needed to stock up on supplies if they were going to travel to the Ancient Forest of Spirits. He should have paid attention, he should have noticed the way her eyes glazed over, the way she leaned into him, head tilted as she listened attentively to his words.

Rufus should have realized something was wrong when she smiled at him, with that dreamy far away look in her eyes. But then Alicia was touching him, her hand on his forearm, fingers caressing him through his sleeve, and the thoughts just scattered in his mind. "Alicia..." He whispered out her name, keenly aware of her body pressing against his arm.

"Yes, Rufus?" Her breath came out in a sweet sigh, the princess leaning heavily against him. He tried to take a step away from her, but she remained clinging to his arm, lashes lowered so that she look at him with a heavy lidded gaze.

"Um...we...that is...you..." He licked his lips nervously, seeing her study the traveling motion of his tongue. "We should buy more..." Rufus was finding it hard to think with her girly bits touching his arm, keenly aware of the way her finger rubbed him through his sleeve. "Potions!!" he suddenly shouted in her face, stumbling away from her. "Yes, potions...and arrows...we need more arrows!"

Alicia frowned, blinking at him. Rufus continued to babble off a list of things they needed to purchase, watching as she slinked towards him. He found himself being backed up against a hard wood wall, a situation he should have found comical due to the princess' petite size. "Rufus..." His name was a purr on her lips, pale pink lips carefully forming each syllable. "There's only two of us now...we really don't need that much."

"Er yes...but..." He had nowhere to go, the wall was at his back, and the unbelievable soft form of the princess was at his front. With every breath she took, her breasts nudged against him, forcing Rufus to be aware of her womanly curves.

"But what?" She asked, leaning against him, inhaling deeply. "Hmm...you smell good..."

He knew what this was, Rufus realized with a start. She was elf struck, it happened to humans on occasion, made them susceptible to elves. There was just something about green hair and pointed ears that drove humans wild. But it wasn't real, it didn't mean anything. _Yeah._ He thought to himself, as Alicia slid her arms around his waist. _Keep telling yourself that, and maybe you'll believe. _

He was frozen on the spot, Rufus just watching as Alicia leaned into him, nuzzling her cheek against the rough wool of his shirt. She giggled, and the sound affected him sending shivers down his spine. "Alicia..." He touched her shoulders, trying to shake her off him. She merely tightened her arms around him, a surprisingly strong squeeze for someone so small. "I think you need to lie down."

"With you?" She asked, hope in her voice.

"Er..." He shook his head, frowning, hating the way his heart sped up at the thought of sharing a bed with the princess. "I just really think you need to take a nap..."

"I'm not tired..." Alicia told him, tilting her head upwards to stare adoringly at him. Rufus stared back at her, fighting not to be mesmerized by baby blue eyes. There was a glassy sheen to them, a glazed over look that definitely pointed to her being elf struck. He wondered why out of all the times this could have happened, it had to have happened now. But the answer was obvious. Silmeria had been taken from Alicia, her presence being the stabilizing force that protected the princess from enchantments. There was no way an elf could charm a God, not even a displaced one in a mortal form.

It had left him to become complacent, taking for granted the ability to converse with Alicia, without having to be on constant guard. And now, Alicia was paying the price for Rufus' ease, staring at him with love sick eyes. Distance was the key, he realized, time apart would cause the effects of his charm to fade away. But unfortunately for both of them, the princess wasn't giving him a chance to escape her.

"Rufus.." A happy sigh from Alicia, keeping her gaze level with his. She was still clinging to him, desperate to not let him go, leaving Rufus frozen on the spot. He was highly unnerved by the expression on Alicia's face, love sick didn't begin to cover it. It was something more, intimate and private, an expression of love one would only show their significant other. Completely different from Alicia's kind smile, and the stubborn resolve in her eyes.

A half giggle, Alicia rubbing herself against him, as she went up on tip toe. Rufus quickly pulled back his face, realizing she couldn't reach his lips without his assistance. Not at her height. And still she kissed him, lips grazing against his neck as best she could, her breath warm and caressing on his skin. He audibly swallowed, and forced himself to touch her. That got another excited giggle from her, Alicia glancing away from his neck as he placed his large hands on her thin shoulders.

He meant to push her gently away, but at the feel of his hands trying to distance her from him, she merely tightened her arms around him possessively. He ended up shoving her, causing her to stumble backwards, booted feet tripping over the carpet on the floor. With a startled cry she fell, blond hair swirling around her face like a cloud, hiding the shocked expression on her face.

Rufus stared down, his expression one of horror. "I'm sorry!" He instantly began apologizing, bowing his head. "I didn't mean to do that!"

"Rufus!" A breathless whine from Alicia, the girl pouting as she brushed back the hair from her face. "That hurt..." She complained, her eyes taking on a crafty gleam. "Ow...my ankle..." She went to lift up her right leg, and Rufus had to fight to keep from blatantly staring at her. From her position on the floor, and her short skirt, he could see her panties. Pure white, a pristine absence of color, and it made an enticing, captivating sight.

He knew he had to be blushing. The blood was simply rushing to his face, heating him up. Alicia continue to stare at him, leg elevated, and now she added a wiggle to it, trying to wave her foot at him. "Ow!" She winced, expression almost exaggerated for the amount of pain she claimed to feel. But he couldn't in good conscience leave her here, not like this, and certainly not if she was hurt.

"Here now..." Rufus knelt down before her, trying to keep from staring at her panties. _Concentrate on her face Rufus...her face!_ He reached for her foot, being as careful as can be as he grazed his fingers over her ankle. "Let me see..." A hiss of pain from Alicia, causing Rufus to cringe. Either she was really hurt, or she was one heck of an actress.

"Can you stand?" Rufus asked, gently setting her foot back down on the floor.

"I think so." Alicia said, holding out her hands to him. He took them, noting how much smaller they were in comparison to his. He went to stand, the half elf slowly pulling Alicia to her feet. She took a step forward, trying to put her weight on her foot and cried out, tilting towards him. Without even thinking he caught her, Alicia sagging in his arms, leaning gratefully against him.

"It hurts." She said, sadness in her voice. "I think I twisted it when YOU pushed me." A stab of guilt at that, Rufus hanging his head in shame.

"I'm sorry..." He sighed, and untangled her arms from his waist. "Here..." He turned, presenting her with his back. "Climb on, I'll carry you." She didn't even hesitate, Alicia wrapped her arms across his shoulders, her legs wrapping around his waist. He gripped her thighs, straightening and heard her let out a squeal. Her body tightened around him, and she let out an exclamation.

"Don't drop me!"

"I won't!" He promised, and began walking unsteadily out the store room. They got a few looks from the people in the shop, strange ones, and ones full of amusement. "She hurt her leg." He found himself constantly explaining, needing to justify why he had such a beautiful girl clinging to his back.

Someone was kind enough to open the door for them, and he stepped out onto the street, earning more looks from the various passerby. He tried his best to ignore the attention, taking careful steps towards the inn they were staying at. It was small relief that it was located close by, especially with the way Alicia was starting to rub up against him.

Somehow they made it to the inn without incident, Rufus doing a careful balancing act up the stairs. He didn't have the keys to Alicia's room, so with extreme reluctance he brought her to his. He walked them over to the bed, and began the effort of prying Alicia off of him. She didn't want to let go, the princess sticking to him like glue. He had to peel her off, finger by finger, and even then she hung on with her legs, before he none too gently dumped her on the bed.

"Now..." Rufus panted, feeling as though he had single-handedly waged the war of Camile Hill. "Let me see your ankle..."

She immediately lifted her leg, quick to flash her panties at him. It would seem they held a certain charm of their own, powerful enough to rival an elf's, Rufus biting his lip as he forced his eyes to look at her foot. He touched her leg, avoiding the tender spot of her ankle. "I'll have to take these off." Rufus said, fingers touching the tiny boot she wore over thigh high leather stockings.

"Okay." Alicia agreed, sounding far too pleased at the thought of removing articles of clothing around him. She made interesting sounds as he pulled the boot off, little squeals and gasping moans, exaggerating the pain she felt. Rufus tossed the boot onto the floor, and then did a side long glance at her leg. He was surprised to find his hands were shaking as he reached for the top of her stocking, dipping his fingers underneath the band. He began rolling down the stocking, not looking at Alicia as his hands smoothed down her soft skin.

Inch by creamy inch, her leg was revealed to him, until he was pulling the stocking over her cute little toes. He left the stocking draped over the edge of his bed, his hands ever so gently touching her foot. Kneading her skin, he moved his fingers towards her ankle, hearing the sharp hiss of pain Alicia let out. His fingers poked and prodded, and to his relief he could find no serious injury.

"It's okay Alicia." Rufus said, lowering her leg so that her foot rested in his lap. "I think you just sprained it. It should feel better in a day or two."

"You take such good care of me." Alicia said softly, smiling at him. "Your fingers are so gentle."

"Er right..." He was embarrassed, pulling his hand away from her foot. "You should get some rest, stay off that ankle." She was shifting closer to him, watching him like a cat eyes a mouse, not at all concerned about her ankle.

"Rufus..." Her fingers touched his arm, pulling herself as close as possible, legs spread on either side of his body. "We're alone now..." Her fingers danced down his arm, and he let her, staring transfixed at the princess. "And there's a bed here..."

"Alicia...this is not like you..." Rufus said hurriedly, even as her hands captured his wrist. "You don't want me, it's just a spell..." His words trailed off as he let out a sharp exhalation of breath, eyes impossibly huge as Alicia pressed his hand down over her breast. The word plump came to his mind, the archer aware of her round breast squishing against his hand. So soft, even with the leather of her vest in the way.

Again he felt the heat of a blush rushing to his cheeks, Rufus shamed to admit he only made a half hearted attempt at pulling his hand away. He knew he had the strength to break her grip, and yet he didn't, cursing himself a fool, an opportunist, even as he continued to allow her to hold his hand captive. "Rufus..." She leaned into his hand, trying to press herself more firmly against his palm. "It's not a spell...I love you...can't you feel the beating of my heart?"

He could feel something all right, and it was most definitely not her heart! "Alicia, you don't love me..." She stared at him with sultry eyes, pouty lips parted in a sigh.

"Then why does my heart beat faster whenever you're around?" She demanded. Alicia hurried to continue, stifling his protests. "It's been this way for a while now...Ever since the volcano..."

"Alicia..." Rufus said, the surprise showing in his voice. He didn't know what to think, what to feel at her admission. And she didn't seem willing to give him the time needed to absorb her words.

"I didn't want to like you." She confessed. "At times you were so mean to me!" A pout then, an accusing look in her eyes. "But other times, you would show kindness to me in the most unexpected ways. Like offering your hand to me to help me up a step." She shook her head, golden hair falling forward to caress her shoulders. "Little by little, even with Silmeria's warnings, you got through my defenses until something blossomed in my heart."

"If it's not love...then it's something very close to it. And I want to feel more..." She cautiously let go of his hand, fingers hovering ready to grab him should he make the attempt to remove it. "Rufus...I like the feeling I get when you look at me...when you touch me...please...don't run away from me...from us..."

"You're making this harder than it has to be..." Rufus whispered frustrated. Not to mention making him feel guilty in the process. Her words were getting to him, striking a chord in his lonely heart that wanted to ignore the fact that she was merely charmed by him. If it wasn't for his out of control ability, she wouldn't be this forward, wouldn't be this bold. And worse of all, he wanted to hear more, wanted to feel more of her body against his.

Against his better judgment, Rufus flexed his fingers, giving Alicia's breast a slight squeeze. The results were immediate, she let out a moan, arching her back in response to his touch. "Did I hurt you?" He asked worriedly, staring intently at her face.

"No.." A vigorous shake of her head, blue eyes staring back at him. "It felt nice...good..."

"Then..." A shaky breathe from him, his hand trembling slightly. "Should I do it again?" She smiled then, expression pleased, and gave a small dip of her head, shyly nodding her assent. Gently, he squeezed, exerting just enough pressure on her pliant breast to feel his fingers molding into the skin. Alicia reacted by throwing her arms around him, pulling him towards her urgently.

He let her, moving the way she wanted him to, twisting his torso at an awkward angle to face her. Her fingers curled and caught at his shirt, tugging him closer, pulling him down so that her lips met his in a passionate kiss. As far as first kisses go, it was clumsy, neither one of them having any experience with the mashing of lips against another pair. They knocked teeth together, and tongues rubbed against each other without any guile or expertise. But it was fervent, almost desperate, and most of all it was intense, Alicia moaning into Rufus mouth.

He couldn't help it, he cried out, letting her know his enjoyment with the sound of his voice. It couldn't have lasted long, neither one of them knew how to breathe through their noses while kissing, and yet it seemed a small eternity went by before they pulled apart, gasping for air. Alicia was staring at him, through half lidded eyes, tongue doing a slow crawl across her lips as though she was savoring the taste of him. When her hands begin pulling on him, he once again gave in, bending his head down eagerly to press his mouth against hers.

Rufus found himself sliding his arms around her slim waist, hugging her tightly even as Alicia squeezed her knees together, pinning him between her legs. His fingers touched her back, tracing the raised embroidery of her vest, before daring to go lower. "AH!!" Alicia cried out as his hands coped a leisurely feel of the roundness of her ass, the princess wiggling against him.

"More...!" whispered Alicia against his lips, seconds before she fell backwards dragging him down to pin her against the mattress. He was all too eager to comply, using his hands to hold on and caress her as they kissed. Alicia seemed unable to stop moving, squirming against him, her hands in his hair, fingers stroking it free of it's tie. Green strands fell forward to mix with her blond tresses, Rufus luxuriating in the feel of her hands petting him.

He was rapidly losing his ability to think, to reason, even as her hands touched his back, tugging at his shirt. She let out a whine of frustration, the princess unable to figure out how to get it off him, and felt as well as heard the material tearing under her insistent fingers. "Make love to me Rufus..." Alicia purred out, arching her back so that her breasts rubbed into his chest.

His body reacted, not just to what hers was doing, but to the words, Rufus grazing his lips along her jaw line. Alicia seemed to really like that from the way she was cooing in response, make the rips on his shirt widen to expose his bare back to her fingers. It was a million times better to feel her hands directly on his skin, soft and warm, massaging his back. He wanted to do the same, Rufus trying to figure out the clasps to her vest, feeling annoyance at the many layers of clothing she wore.

Alicia was speaking, her voice a low murmur that even his sharp hearing had to struggle to make out her words. It didn't help that he was only paying half attention to them concentrating instead on trying to divest her of her clothing. Snaps opened and he smiled, pulling back in preparation to lift the vest up off her body. He snuck a glance at her face and froze, seeing the trusting way she stared at him. Earnest eyes that spoke of the trust, the confidence she had in him to do the right thing. Something he was most definitely not doing, he realized with a start.

It must have shown in his face, the decision to stop, because she was crying out. "No!" And throwing her arms around him, pulling him back down. Alicia tried to distract him with sloppy kisses on the side of his neck, Rufus biting his lip to ignore the pleasurable feeling of her lips caressing his skin. This was wrong, even if Alicia truly felt love for him, at the moment she wasn't thinking clearly. He would be taking advantage of her in the worst way possible, and it took all his strength to push off her and slip free of her arms.

"Rufus..." His name came out a tortured whine, Alicia leaning forward on the bed, hands held out imploringly to him. "Why did you stop?"

"We can't do this..." He stood, his back to the bed to avoid looking at her pouty expression. "It's wrong..."

"Why?" She demanded, the mattress creaking as she moved closer to him. "It feels right...feels good."

Yes it did, he silently agreed, and that made it even worse. "Alicia..." he said out loud. "You'll thank me for this later."

"No I won't!" Her voice sounded close to a tantrum, loud and angry and he risked turning to see her glare at him. Tears were hinted at in the corner of her eyes, a mark of her agitation. Rufus knew she wouldn't understand, not while she was effect by his charm spell. He knew what he had to do, and he stepped towards her, watching as her lips quirked upwards in a victorious smile. Alicia thought he was weakening, returning to finish what they had started. She went eagerly into his arms, Rufus placing a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Sleep." He commanded, whispering out an old elf spell used for putting petulant children to bed early. He didn't have much magic, only what came natural to him as an elf, but the sleep spell took immediate hold on Alicia. She sagged in his arms, eyes fluttering close as her breathing evened out. He sighed with her, Rufus gently lowering her to the bed. He smoothed the hair back from her face, and left her hands folded over her stomach, before moving away from the bed.

One last glance at Alicia, and then he was slipping out of the room, Rufus intent on stopping by an herbalist's shop. There was a way to counteract the elf charm, to render Alicia immune to it's powerful effects. He would need jasmine oil, and pinalope seeds, along with a base potion to mix the ingredients into. The pinalope seeds were expensive, but worth the price if it would return Alicia back to normal.

He collected some wildflowers that grew by the side of the town's main road, intent on weaving them together to form into a necklace. The spell would work better with something not grown by the hand of humans. His nimble fingers made quick work of the flowers, shaping a crude necklace out of the stems. And then he sprinkled the potion onto the flowers, his nose twitching at the fragrant smell of the pinalope seeds.

"Alicia..." He called out to her softly, approaching the bed. She stirred at the sound of his voice, eyes slowly fluttering open, to look at him with the sweetest of smiles on her face.

"Rufus." She said happily, already moving to sit up. He moved when she did, the half elf placing the flower necklace over her head. "What's this?" She asked, cute button nose wrinkling as she inhaled the scent of the seeds and the aroma of the flowers.

"It's a good luck charm." He explained with a smile, watching her anxiously. Alicia cocked her head to the side, touching her fingers to the petals of a prominent white flower. Her rubbing motion caused more of the smell to be released, and Rufus watched as the glassy sheen to her eyes slowly started to fade, blue becoming more brilliant, more aware and vibrant.

"A good luck charm?" Alicia frowned at him, blinking her eyes rapidly. "I thought you didn't believe in those?"

"I believe in this one." Rufus told her with a gentle smile. "Please promise me you'll wear this until we get Silmeria back."

"All right..." He knew she didn't understand, the princess looking confused by his request. But she was willing to honor it, and that was all that mattered.

"Rufus?" A quick glance around the room, her frown deepening.

"Yes Alicia?"

"Why am I in your room? In your bed?" She blushed. "With my boot off?"

"Er...it's a funny story..." Rufus hedged with a nervous laugh, placing a hand behind his head. "I'm sure you'll laugh when you hear the details." For the record, she didn't laugh, in fact she packed a pretty mean punch, the princess insisting she would have never acted like that. Rufus didn't know if he should be relieved or disappointed that Alicia didn't remember what happened between them. He was leaning heavily towards disappointment, curiosity driving him wild as he tried to divine whether her love sick confession had been the truth or not.

And thus ended what would have been an otherwise unmemorable rest over at one of the many villages scattered between Dipan and the Forest of Spirits.

&

This was done for 100 Series' Rufus and Alicia fanbook. She gave me permission to make my submission available online. I have one other, shorter Rufus Alicia submission for her book, but that will remain a fanbook exclusive. Hmm...I worry it's not clear about Rufus' elf power. Remember in VP 1, the elf Lezard caught tried to charm his homunculous? Ha ha, that;s what happened here, only by accident. Rufus doesn't know how to control it. XD

Michelle


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